Door construction



Mar h 5,1929 A.$TEFFEN.JR 1,704,411,

noon consrauc'uou Filed July 23, 192? Patented Mar. 5, 1929.

ALFRED STBFFEH, m, 0] SHEBOYGAR, WISCONSIN.

DOOR CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed July 23, 1927. Serial No. 207,900.

This invention relates to door constructions and is particularlydirected to a door construction for use on automobiles.

In door constructions as heretofore made, particularly those used onautomobiles, it is frequently the case that a passenger inadvententlygets his finger caught in the crack of the door particularly adjacentthe hinged side. The attention of the passenger is primarily directedtowards the moving end of the door and he is not conscious as a generalrule of the danger of injuring his fingers adjacent the hinged side ofthe door with the net result that alarge number of accidents occur dueto this ever present menace in the usual door constructions.

This invention is designed to overcome the defects noted above andobjects of this inven tion are to provide a novel form of doorconstruction which is particularly adapted for automobiles, althoughobviously it can be used in other places, which provides absoluteprotection against damage to the fingers even if they are positioned inthe crack of the door adjacent the hinge, as means are provided whichcushion the fingers and yield to accommodate them, so that damage doesnot occur.

Further objects are to provide a door construction which does not leaveany gap between the door and the casing although it guards againstdamage as has been pointed out immediately above.

Further objects are to provide a door construction having thecharacteristics enumerated, which nevertheless has the usual appearanceof the ordinary ty e of door and does not have any objectlona ileauxiliaries or attachments, which would mar its appearance and detractfrom its popularity.

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings inwhich:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view of a portion of an automobile dooradjacent the hinge showing the door closed;

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the door open with parts broken away.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the usual door casing 1for an automobile has been indicated together with a door 2. The door iscarried by the wing 3 of a hinge, the other wing 4 of such hinge beingset withm the door casing, as shown most clearly in Figure 2. It is tobe noted particularly that the door stops short at the reterencecharacter 5 in Figure 2, and that a yielding block is positioned at thisoint and forms a continuation of the door. 'l his yielding block isindicated by the reference character Gand may be of any desiredconstruction. However, in the form shown, it is made of sponge rubber sothat it will freely yield and accommodate the fingers or other objectsthat may be caught between the butt end of the door and the adjacentportion of the casing. This block of yielding material is relativelythick to rovide the necessary room in the event that a finger is caughtin the crack or the door.

It is obvious that the presence of this s on e rubber block will notordinarily be susp dcte i,

as it may be painted to correspond to the door and as it is so shapedthat it constitutes a continuation of the door. However, its yieldingcharacteristics and the peculiar construction of door with its cut awayend, avoid wholly any danger of accidents due to pinchmg of the fingersor other portions of the body in the crack of the door. Although theinvention has been described in considerable detail, such description isin-.

tended as illustrative rather than limiting-as the invention may bevariously embodied and as the scope of such invention is to bedetermined as claimed.

I claim:

The combination of a door casing, a door.

hinged to said casing and havin itsend spaced :1 material distance awayrom said casing, the space between said door and said casing and thedoor closed without injury to the hand. i

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand atSheboygan, in the county of Sheboygan and State of Wisconsm.

ALFRED STEFFEN, JR.

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